Spiked Almond Joy Poundcake.

What do you think about booze in your poundcake?

Because I feel good about it.

Really good.

Almost as good as the fact that NBC might be bringing Friends back for a reunion show, which had me screaming s#$%^kljsdsfj(#*t!! and jumping up and down and then thinking it would be a hot mess and then not caring because every time people think reunion shows are junk I usually think they are wonderful because I have terrible taste. So I MIGHT be excited.

So excited that I watched six reruns yesterday instead of my typical four. Will this ever get old?

Contrary to how it may appear, this is not a poundcake stuffed with almond joy candy bars. It’s just a poundcake flavored like almond joy candy bars. Which, um, happens to be one of my favorite candy bars ever. One of my favorite candy bars that I rarely got to eat because for some reason, my mom only would buy fun sized milky ways when I was little.

Such a deprived child.

Maybe it was because every time I ate an almond joy, I took the almond off the top and threw it away? Yes. I did do that. I bet you did too. I think all kids did that. Mainly because NUTS DON’T BELONG IN CANDY.

I want to cry when I see walnuts in fudge or something. Let’s not even talk about when I accidentally bite into candy that houses nuts. It’s like when my husband tried to pile his arugula, mushroom and aioli burger with ketchup.

Stop. You’re ruining it.

Okay, enough controversy. I’ve learned the error of my ways anyway.

Oddly enough, I also have a very firm stance on the presence of nuts in baked goods: that being that I prefer them to be… nonexistent. There are a few cases where I don’t mind. And if they are just topped with nuts, like in this case? Some extra points can be earned. Especially with these honey roasted sliced almonds from Trader Joe’s. Man. I am flying through bags of them.

They are wildly delicious and if they are ever discontinued my entire life will be meaningless.

It also helps that the sliced almonds are piled high on a blanket of milk chocolate (I will forever love milk chocolate more than dark chocolate. I know. I lack class.) and toasted coconut. That I can totally get behind.

And the booze! We got off track. I laced the cake with some amaretto and the flavor was just perfect. I almost also combined some shredded coconut with sweetened condensed milk to make a gooey coconut layer underneath the chocolate, but I didn’t want to go overboard or anything.

Directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well to combine. In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, amaretto, vanilla and coconut extracts.

Add the butter in small chunks to the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl, and mix on medium speed until it comes together, about 2-3 minutes. Once it seems almost dough-like, add in half of the egg mixture, then beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining egg mixture in two parts, beating after each addition for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Spread batter into the greased loaf pan. Place it on a baking sheet. Bake for 60-65 minutes, until the center is no longer jiggly. Check on the cake after about 50 minutes, and if the top is becoming too dark, tent it with aluminum foil until finished. Remove and let cool for at least 30 minutes.

While cake is cooling, melt the chocolate in a saucepan or the microwave (I melt mine in 30 second increments and stir). While it's still hot, stir in the coconut oil until melted.

Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the loaf pan. Drizzle the chocolate on top, then cover with the coconut and almonds. Serve!